Van McElwee

"McElwee is an ultra prolific digital pioneer of the highest order. With each new piece he finds yet another way to invade his software and create images that previously could not have been conceived much less seen."

Andrew Lampert, Anthology Film Archives, New York

"The expansion of consciousness, the creation of timelessness and the generation of new worlds embody beauty without boundaries in Van McElwee’s work."

TL Reid, Afterimage

"As gorgeous as any fireworks display…dazzling astral patterns."

Stephen Holden, The New York Times

"It can be argued that McElwee’s Liquid Crystal simulates a new reality conducive to human survivability in the hypermodern age."

"Van McElwee draws us into a world of flux, a world which consists only of incessant transition, and dares us to feel at home in the exhilaration of this shifting universe."

David Finkelstein, Film Threat

Van McElwee's body of media art includes over seventy single channel video works, installations and web projects. Grants and awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, The American Film Institute Independent Filmmaker Award, The National Endowment for the Arts Independent Production Fund (seven time recipient), and a grant from the Government of India. McElwee’s work has been exhibited extensively worldwide and is represented by The Kitchen in New York, Bruno David Gallery in St. Louis, Heure Exquise! in France, LUX in the UK, the Inter Media Art Institute in Germany.

Artist’s Statement

"An alchemy occurs when the outer world is transformed into video: it becomes mind-stuff. I carry this process forward, questioning the nature of reality, exploring time and dimensionality by weaving fragments of the world into new patterns. In this way, video can enjoy the same freedom as painting and music; it can be something, not just about something." VM